Tuesday, May 15, 2012

I have a Samsung 40 inch LCD TV. A little over two years old and with all the works - full HD, USB, multiple HDMI inputs, etc.

Then 3 weeks ago my wife heard 2 pops. Both my satellite receiver (a separate box) and my Samsung LCD had been fried, thanks to a high voltage spike in the antenna cable. My power surge protector strip was powerless (no pun intended) against this, because that high voltage signal traveled into my satellite receiver through the antenna cable, and from there on through the HDMI cable into my TV.

The satellite receiver was easy to fix - it was immediately replaced by the store where I had bought it (still under warranty). That is why, sometimes, paying a few bucks extra instead of buying things from the Internet pays off later.

Anyway, the elephant in the room was the broken TV. Since it was out of warranty, I didnt even bother calling Samsung - they'd take 100+ euros to just look at it, and their service center is too far anyway from where I live. The local TV repair shop put the bill at a minimum of 280 Euros - thats almost half the cost of the TV itself. Out of the question. What else could I do?

Down but not out, I started looking into fixing it on my own. Now that is risky. Why?

I have no training in fixing TVs (although I am a computer and electrical engineer)

TVs insides can be very dangerous (You have been warned. Don't mess with it unless you really know what you are doing)

Where and how to start?

How would I figure out what is broken?

On the other hand, what had I got to lose anyway? It was a paperweight if I couldn't do something about it.

So I got the Philips #2 screwdriver and took the plunge. Almost a dozen screws later, the plastic back was off and I peered into the insides of my beloved LCD TV. The first thought that came to me was - this looks a lot like the insides of a modern desktop computer. Not at all like those old CRT-display based TVs full of myriad electronic components and circuits. And I do know how to build and fix desktops. Why should this be so different?

Inside the LCD TV

Back side of the LCD TV, after removing the controller board. The top part (side of the TV) is the power board. The connectors from the powerboard to the controller board, from the controller board to the LCD screen, and from the controller board to the speakers/front panel are also visible.

There are 3 main components - the screen itself, the power board (its got lots of big inductors and capacitors on it - you cant miss it), and the controller board. In addition, there are small pilot circuits that run the remote control, front panel lights, speakers etc. In my case, I immediately noticed the problem - a burned out and blacked HDMI port on the controller board. So that is where the disastrous pop sound came from.

Close-up on the controller board. This is the CPU of the TV. Notice the black soot due to the burn out next to the HDMI port in the center of the picture. A careful visual inspection of the power board and the controller board can often yield the source of the problem

I quickly checked if DC voltages were being delivered from the cable coming out of the power board in order to be confident of my thesis that the controller board was the most likely culprit. I couldn't see any easy way of fixing the controller board. The parts are minuscule and this is a double-sided printed circuit board - parts on both sides. Too intricate for human hands to manipulate. Besides, how would I ever figure out which of those chips had been fried?

The only option was to replace the whole board. Thankfully, other people seem to breaking their LCD TVs in creative ways that leave their controller boards intact to be sold as parts - for example, Nintendo Wii controllers are notorious for breaking LCD screens. And sure enough, there are Internet vendors who have made a flourishing business out of selling parts pulled from other broken TVs. I found a vendor in the UK who stocked the controller board of my TV.

Now the trick is getting the same exact part as the one you are replacing. For this you need the part number. Note that the same controller/power boards are used across multiple Samsung TVs so searching for parts based exactly on the TV model number is sub-optimal. In case of my controller board I found the part number printed on the board itself (from my TV the controller board was BN41-01167C-MP1). Pasting this part number in Google yielded several sellers who offer it. I chose FlatTVParts.co.uk for the favorable customer reviews and testimonials. They ship worldwide. I was not disappointed by their service. The part is provided with the guarantee that it is in working condition, and I believe there is a small return period as well (I hope I don't have to avail of this!). Total cost, including international shipping, was 60 Euros.

So, I screwed in this controller board. Plugged in the connectors (these connectors are just like computer connectors.). I made sure that I put back the back plastic panel before testing (caution - high voltages).

Then I turned it on and waited. The standby light lazily turned a beautiful red. I pressed the power button. Tuned my satellite receiver. My 8-month daughter let out a squeal when the Kika channel came up. I was home.